SAM RETURNS-A MIRACULOUS EPISODE

Under tragic circumstances,when the whole family was stunned by the sudden departure of Sam, our African Grey,I blogged on 04 January and promised to say more when he returns. I had used the title "--God's Gift"-- without perhaps understanding the significance of my statement. Here is the narrative of what transpired between the 3rd of January and 30 jan when we finally recovered him about 15 kms from our residence. Those who question the existence of God in whatever form, may want to study the narrative to interpret the events in scientific terms, if possible. I couldn't.
Assuming that Parrots tend to remain in the vicinity of their abode, we concentrated on all the residential colonies in the vicinity by circulating posters and using the Internet.While cable TV carried an advertisement and a picture, Geeta,visited every apartment and spoke to occupants,drivers, domestic staff and car cleaners. We had hoped that Sam would enter one of the many hundred apartments near NIBM,which is also surrounded by a forest area. We found a great deal of sympathy,understanding and concern from pet lovers. A number of sighting calls followed and each had to be attended to.
Geeta had already contacted Pundits in three cities through close relatives and lovers of Sam.Surprisingly,all the predictions had one thing in common,that Sam was alive and in captivity. One even ventured to suggest that he had entered a friendly home. Most of them rated our chances of recovering Sam at 98%.
A week is about the outer limit for Sam to survive in an alien environment being an African and so with each passing day theoretically the percentage of survival diminished rather rapidly in my mind.

Sam Bangara is a legend in the family. Many had started prayers and poojas and vows to St Antony. Jakarta and Singapore had joined the prayer campaign . Geeta as a mother, could never accept that we had lost him. So she started a news paper campaign localised to Kondhwa, our area of Pune.Predictably, many sighting calls followed with no results.Scouring through news paper advertisement, Geeta established a link with a well educated lady numerologist/rekhi expert. An appointment for 30 minutes dragged on to an hour and a half. The lady claimed to feel the vibrations of Sam and recommended a few measures to locate him including a special pooja at an unique Hanuman temple. On 29th, when most of us had reconciled to the inevitability of the tragic loss supported by a sudden absence of sighting reports, the tenacious wife of mine,went in for another round of newspaper ads, which also contained a picture and a vivid description of Sam and his favourite hobby of calling out names of those close to him.He had adopted our part -time maid Renuka as one who was at his service. He often called her with a loud authoritative voice and when he wanted her to humour him she became his "Bahu". This call was a gentle and a loving one reserved only for her. Hence the newspaper advertisement included 'Renuka' as part of Sam's  repertoire of vocabulary.

On 30th we get a call from a young lady who announced that Sam had travelled to their house about 15 kms away and had entered their first floor residence full of pets, in a thickly populated residential colony, at the IT city of Magarpatta.Our visit to the Rosario family and a joyful reunion with Sam, could form the part of a full story. He could not have found a better house to take shelter after five days in the wilderness,exhuasted, hungry and having been attacked. He entered their house on 07 January and was well cared for till the young Rosario chanced upon the newspaper advertisement lying on the table of a friend in Kondhwa. The name Renuka rang a bell!!!!!

Sam is back and all the vows made are being honoured at temples,gurudwara and churches in many cities.Secularism and faith in all religions were on display throughout.. The most sympathetic calls and a ready heart to help came from the followers of Islam,whose gracious houses we did visit on receipt of sighting calls. Many knew only our cell numbers and not our names and we visited their homes without asking for their names.

Two striking features of this episode are worth noting.Not a single Pundit,priest. numerologist etc accepted any fee from us for their efforts. They simply attributed their free service, to the divine qualities of Sam who in their appreciation was sent to us by powers beyond human comprehension.How else can you explain how Sam entered the first floor apartment of the Rosario's, which in a maze of hundreds of multi-storey buildings is  not even visible from the air. In fact there is a small gap in the sequestered balcony of the house in which live a number of birds and four dogs in perfect harmony. Can you explain the series of coincidences in retrieving Sam?. Or was it a miracle which had been pre ordained. Indeed Sam is Gods gift to us and so we continue to bask in His glory.